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| "A Great Store in a Great City." |
The Lit Brothers were Samuel and Jacob
and somehow they seem to get all the credit
for a clothing store actually started by their sister,
Rachel P. Lit Weddel Arnold
Rachel started a woman's clothing store in 1891.
But the brothers do deserve some credit
because their vision helped her little corner shop
become one of the largest retail stores in Philadelphia.
As her store grew,
the surrounding buildings were somehow
cobbled together to create the structure of today.
The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Rachel differentiated herself from the competition
by trimming hats purchased in her shop at no charge.
I love that the signage remains, mostly.
And ghost signs still remain in the city
but the store is long gone.
The Lit Brothers chain of stores closed in 1977.
The building sat vacant for nearly a decade
until it was purchased and repurposed into
the office and commercial spaces of today.
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| Lit Brothers, 1898: “Lit Brothers, Millinery, Cloaks” | Photo: Free Library of Philadelphia Historical Images of Philadelphia Collection |
Thankfully the beautiful facade remains,
except for the hideous (imo)
large video billboards attached to the roof today
which are a total misfit with the historic architecture.
Yuck, I can't even bring myself to post a photo of it.
The Lit Brothers Building is located at
8th & Market Streets in Center City, Philadelphia.
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| Philadelphia is located in the SE corner of Pennsylvania. |
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